Consumer products with high sugar content have come under wide criticism for their purported links to obesity and associated health conditions. Consumers are increasingly looking for products that have low sugar content on their ingredients label. For label purposes, sugars are explicitly defined as mono or dimeric carbohydrates (DP1-2, where DP is “degree of polymerization”). To fulfill a low sugar content need, food companies are actively investigating ingredient formulations that will reduce the sugar content of their formulations. Current corn syrups on the market can have a sugar content as high as 95% (HFCS); typically, the sugar content ranges from 40% to 95%. A 63 dextrose equivalent (DE) corn syrup such as Sweetose® 4300 will have a sugar content of 64-66% and a high maltose syrup can have a sugar content in the range of 40-60%. These syrups are currently used as bulking agents, sweeteners, texture modifiers, and viscosity agents and for moisture control in food applications. For bulking syrups, viscosity is an important physical property. One method of reducing sugar content in corn syrups is to substitute the sugars with higher carbohydrate polymers (DP>11). But this could significantly change the colligative properties of these syrups, especially the viscosity. A change in viscosity cannot only adversely affect the aesthetic value of the food product but also creates a need for special manufacturing equipment. To avoid these issues, there is a need for a corn syrup that has substantially lower sugar content but possesses a viscosity similar to that of a 63 DE corn syrup.
Some companies are currently using polyols to reduce the sugar content of syrups. However, polyols can be expensive and many of them have undesired gastrointestinal side effects.